


Hypothermia

by blametheone



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: (Ish) - Freeform, AU, Alternate Universe, Cold, College, Hypothermia, M/M, Smut, Snow, Stranded, Train Ride, Uni Student Liam, its okay neither of them get hypothermia, lilo, lilo au, really just useless fluff with a terrible plotline, train
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-07
Updated: 2015-10-07
Packaged: 2018-04-25 07:11:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4951321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blametheone/pseuds/blametheone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam is on train, just trying to get home after the holidays, travelling with friend, really more of an acquaintance, Louis Tomlinson. All is going well, until of course, the train breaks down in the middle of a winter night and the heating is out at the hotel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hypothermia

**Author's Note:**

> this is actually so pointless, but have fun. if anyone is asking, this WAS inspired off of a similar story (i've written it differently and ended it much worse, calm your tits) with zayn and liam, but i cant remember where and who it was by for the life of me. apologies. if this sounds similar to yours THEN TAKE CREDIT AND OMFG ILY.

Liam Payne never fancied Louis Tomlinson.

It was never the cliché that there was 'something about him from the moment he walked in', or the love-hate attraction, or even the slow and steady fall into amour.

No, there was one specific event, a full two years after he met Louis, where it happened. Maybe it's where the love began or maybe where he fell in love with Louis all at once, but either way it's where it happened.

It was a bitterly frozen, early January night in Manchester, and Liam  _was_ going back to school at his University in London after the Christmas break. He was travelling with a friend, namely Louis, on the train down to the South as they were both catching the same one on the same day and they knew each other briefly so it made sense to travel together.

Except that, Liam knew almost nothing about Louis.

He knew that the boy liked music, and was older than Liam but smaller, but he only knew this from Harry — who introduced them. He faintly remembers something about Louis studying an acting class of some sort (Liam honestly could not remember what kind of course that was, though), and he's pretty sure that this guy's family was somewhere South of Yorkshire? Something like that.

Liam was bad at Geography.

The lack of knowledge Liam had about Louis should have made things easier, conversation wise, as it meant Liam could ask questions and whatnot, but an exceptionally awkward tension settled on their shoulders, and it turns out Louis likes to sleep (or perhaps got very little while at home) because he very quickly opted to lay on the seats with a coat over his shoulders.

Liam watched as Louis slept — which was not as creepy as it sounds — and realised that Louis was actually... gorgeous.

He was  _hot_ , is the thing, pretty, smoking, sexy and more, but all of those terms felt wrong and dirty to use. They didn't actually portray the image Liam had right in front of him, the beautiful portrait of an amazingly aesthetic man, content and peaceful in the world.

Liam felt pretty peaceful too, actually.

Until, of course, the train came to a grinding halt that almost tossed Liam straight out of his seat and across the table onto Louis. That wasn't particularly peaceful at all.

Louis roused from his slumber at the halt and the soft, bubbling commotion coming from the booths around them.

"Wha..? What's goin' on?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes to rid them of sleep and gunk.

"I don't kno-"

"Good evening, passengers," the shrill voice of the driver comes over the intercom and cuts Liam off. "We are experiencing some difficulties with the engine, currently, and will have to cut some power usage. We advise you to put on coats and scarfs, and talk to the nearest attendant about the situation."

The voice cut out and Louis noticed an attendant moving past their compartment booth, jumping out to talk to him before anyone else could.

Liam bit the dry skin of his lips and fidgeted with his hands as he watched and waited for his friend to return. Finally, he watched as the two figures split.

Louis huffed as he walked back into the booth and sat across from Liam.

"He said that we have two choices. We can stay in a hotel around the area for tonight and get back on tomorrow morning for no extra expense, or catch a series of buses and undergrounds to get there now," Louis explained, quickly but easily, spacing his words and gesturing his hands in ways that were completely irrelevant but somehow made things work quicker in Liam's brain.

Well. At least, they worked quicker in the half that wasn't focused solely on how gorgeous Louis was freshly woken.

"Can we stay on the train overnight?" Liam asked cautiously, hoping Louis had been told the answer.

The man shook his head. "No. Heating's out, it'll freeze over. They're kicking everyone off, basically."

Liam nodded. "Well, I don't know about you, but I don't start class for five more days, I'd be happy to stay in a hotel one night."

Louis looked at his feet. "You're still alright if I come with you, yeah?"

Liam's eyes widened at the question.

Had he put Louis off? Had he offended him? Why would Louis think Liam didn't want him around?

"Of course! Of course! We'll share a room and split the bill, cheaper stay, right? Unless you want five stars or something," Liam joked as he reached for the case in the overhead.

Louis cackled, reaching for his own bags and shrugging his coat around his shoulders. "Cheap is good. Uni, y'know, cheap is good."

Liam chuckled and nodded, understanding completely.

The second they each stepped off the train, Louis's hands wrapped under his coat and he exhaled sharply.

"Fuck, it's cold."

Liam nodded in agreement, shifting his sleeve so it half wrapped over his knuckles on the handle of his case, suddenly envying Louis's over-the-shoulder-strapped bag.

"Let's find the first place to stay, and get out of this wind," he suggested, and Louis pointed to a flake of white flurry.

"And snow."

"Damn," Liam cursed. Now it was snowing too, just great. "Let's go."

 

\--

 

"Before you book, I gotta warn ya, the heating's out," the aged woman with vibrant red strands of hair sympathetically informed them both as they negotiated the room.

Liam looked at Louis and Louis looked at Liam, then they both looked at the woman.

"Is there anywhere close by with heat?" Louis asked, rubbing his arms half from cold half from nerves. He didn't like this.

The woman sighed. "The only other hotel is the four-star on the other side of town."

"Fuuuuu..." Liam trailed to avoid swearing and Louis pulled him aside.

"Look, I know we don't really know each other too well, but I say we get one bed to share here. It's too far to walk, it's snowing, and we have enough blankets and body heat between the two of us to keep warm. Besides, she said four-star, we- ... I can't afford even half of that."

Louis made good points and Liam wondered if he was doing English or if he was confused with someone else and Louis was actually a genius or something.

Liam nodded and turned back.

"We'll stay here. Can we get a room with one double bed?"

The woman raised an eyebrow at this and smirked.

"Sure."

Liam had the key, so Liam jiggled the lock on the door open. It wasn't a flashy place whatsoever, but it was kept clean, the curtains were thick for partial insulation, and extra blankets had been provided at the foot of the bed.

The two men tossed their things into the room and Louis gestured to the bathroom.

"We're both freezing and I saw the boiler on the way through, the hot water's going," he stated. "Do you want first shower?"

Liam shook his head.

"You go. Just don't use up all the hot water," he joked and Louis cracked a smile, whipping open his case and pulling out clothes and a towel, suddenly so thankful his mother had forced him to have them washed and dried before he left.

 

\--

 

The thing is, the bed was small.

It was double, yes, but that didn't mean it was big. It could easily fit them both, Liam guesses as he stands at the end of the bed (fresh and clean and  _cold_ ), but not only is the bed slightly on the smaller side, but the top-notch blankets provided were for single beds.

 _Single_ beds. Meant for  _one_.

Louis fidgeted next to him, rocking back and forth from the heel of one foot to the toe of the other, fingers twisting and lip bitten.

"I..." he began with a stutter. "I know we don't know each other really well, but it's fucking cold right now and we have to share body heat anyway so we don't freeze so..."

"We'll fit," Liam nodded. "And we have to fit, like, right now, or my balls are going to freeze over and fall off."

Louis chuckled at him but nodded his head along and quickly stalked down the left side of the bed, Liam following suit on the right, and they each jumped under the three layers of blankets they'd lain out.

They each finally stopped shifting and realised how close to each other they were, thighs just brushing and shins pressed up close.

"Hi," Louis chuckled at the proximity.

"Hi back," Liam responded, shifting his eyes awkwardly. "Are you okay like this, or do you want to go back to back or...?"

Louis shrugged. "I'm okay with this, as long as you are. I'm pretty okay with proximity, but tell me if you're uncomfortable."

Liam bit his lip. Actually, he usually hated people being too close. He felt closed in and violated, but Louis... Louis was softer, warmer, inviting. It was nice.

But he wasn't going to say any of this.

"I'm perfectly fine, trust me," he assured. "And I apologise in advance for morning breath, and anything else I do unconsciously."

Louis chuckled, then suddenly perked as a thought struck him.

"Oh, you should know now that, like, I kick and shit, in my sleep... Not hard, but if I'm twitching in the middle of the night, don't wake me."

Liam laughed genuinely at this, finding himself burning with curiosity for more footnotes of irrelevant information about Louis.

"That's fine. I talk in my sleep sometimes, actually. Usually you can't understand what I'm saying but I'm sorry if I wake you," Liam warned. Louis chuckled into his wrist and sucked in a drawn out breath to calm down.

"Alright," he cleared his throat. "I'm going to go to sleep now, then. Goodnight, Liam."

They made it work. Liam woke up in the middle of the night to find Louis had unconsciously shifted closer, curling into Liam's chest for warmth. His head was right on the taller's collarbone, snoring lightly.

Liam pulled the blankets over both of their shoulders and went back to sleep.

They awoke the next morning with red noses, pink cheeks and close bodies.

"Hi," Liam chuckled as Louis' eyelashes fluttered. He had been awake for a few minutes and it was a bit weird that he was staring at Louis but they were really close and really warm and he really hadn't wanted to move.

"Mm," Louis grunted, eyes staying closed. "You do talk in your sleep. Woke me up."

"Oh my gosh," Liam's eyes went wide. "Seriously? I'm so sorry! I-"

"Shut up, Li," Louis smirked, chuckling. "I was awake for, like, three seconds."

His eyes were so bright this early in the morning. Liam gazed over Louis' face, taking in where the blush of pink started and ended on his nose and cheeks, that his skin around the blush was a shade paler than it had been on the train. He took in the perfect length and placement of his eyelashes, something Liam doubts many people would look at and appreciate so closely, and how his eyebrows curved above them, the weight of his eyelids. 

He studied the button-ness of his nose and the ever so slight bump in the bridge where it was probably broken. He closely examined the sharp cheekbones and the way Louis' cheeks pulled taught or scrunched when he smiled. His lips — soft, pink and thin — framed by the dusting of stubble that was only visible to someone as close of proximity as Liam was.

There was suddenly a strong urge within Liam's body to surge forward and kiss those lips, burn his cheeks on that stubble and frame that sharp jawline with his hands.

"Liam," Louis' voice shocked him from the stupor he had fallen into whilst staring. "How... how urgently do you need to get on the train home?"

"Not urgently..." Liam whispered back. "Why?"

"Well, I've heard that around here in doesn't warm up at all, and you are quite the emitter of body heat, and it's also common physics that some naked activities under covers produce a lot of warmth," Louis said all in a rush. "And also, I'd rather stay here in this very warm bed than go freeze my tits off in a train station."

"Are you suggesting we perform naked activities under the covers to stay warm?" Liam grinned.

"Well, purely for survival purposes," Louis smirked. "I mean, don't want either of us catching a cold or hypothermia."

Liam braced his arms around the smaller man, drawing him closer and letting his lips hover right over Louis'.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

And maybe there was a flurry of kisses, long and languid then hungry and hurried all at once and swapping between.

Maybe Liam shuffled so he was hovering on top of Louis, and maybe he sucked a bruise into the crook of Louis' collarbones while they each scrambled at shirts and boxers.

Maybe Liam ducked under the covers and kissed Louis' thighs and maybe he sucked his dick a little bit.

Maybe Louis giggled when Liam whined and yelped about having to leave their heated sanctuary of covers to retrieve lube (and maybe he didn't warm it in his hands first out of spite).

Maybe Louis had to turn and bite down hard on the pillow while Liam fingered him, and maybe Liam bit down on Louis' shoulder when he bottomed out.

And, okay, maybe they both shouted a little too loudly when they orgasmed, too worked up to care.

All that's for sure is that they stayed at the hotel another two nights and that Louis may or may not have stayed with Liam for the next week and a half because they both attended schools within the same radius of his place and also because Louis lived alone.

And maybe that's how Liam fell in love with Louis.

**Author's Note:**

> comments, kudos and all that good stuff is very much appreciated. you don't understand how happy it makes me to NOT see a little (0) for my inbox.


End file.
